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I like their strategy in concept, but they definitely over-do it at times. Hewitt may have been one of those times. But then again, look at the guys who would have been on the draft board when they made that pick. Most of them are boring, low impact players. Anthony Hewitt was practically universally accepted as the player with the best tools in the draft. Why not throw the dice (especially when you have 7 picks in the top 3 rounds).

The Hewitt decision makes sense in retrospect even if it doesn't look like it will work out (and I hated it when it happened).

The Phillies don't want to develop low impact prospects. That's their choice and I don't necessarily disagree with it...

If I remember correctly I was hoping for Gerrit Cole or Casey Kelly. Cole never signed, Kelly looks like a strong pitching prospect though, but you're right that there weren't many options late in the first round of that Draft.

By the way, the next four Philadelphia picks after the Hewitt selection were Collier, Gose, Knapp and Worely, not bad. Its just I can't get over that Hewitt selection.

Because I enjoy stalking other team's prospect threads, I thought I'd weigh in on the toolsy debate...

I really don't understand the love the "5-tool, no production" players get. Especially the guys who have all above-average tools but nothing particularly special or that matches up well. If a guy has power and speed, that's great and all, but does he take bad routes to balls? Does he make enough contact to put his power to good use? Does he at least go on streaks where he takes walks?

And to be honest, how many 5 tool players are there in the major leagues? Beltran, Vlad, Soriano, A-Rod? And those guys really aren't 5 tool players now that they're older. But those guys were exceptions to the rule and had exceptional tools in all areas, not just "good" tools. Guys with a few outstanding tools and a few other average or below average tools typically are better off than guys who are "jack of all trades, master of none" players.

It's definitely something the Phillies get a little over-excited about. Then again, Dom Brown was an all tools, no skills player at one point and now he's widely regarded as the top prospect left in the minors (which I think is wrong, but that's another debate). There definitely is a real chance these types of players figure things out and when they do you end up with a franchise player.

Now writing for FanGraphs, RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, and The Fake Baseball

It's definitely something the Phillies get a little over-excited about. Then again, Dom Brown was an all tools, no skills player at one point and now he's widely regarded as the top prospect left in the minors (which I think is wrong, but that's another debate). There definitely is a real chance these types of players figure things out and when they do you end up with a franchise player.

When was Dom Brown all tools no talent? Brown had the necessary baseball skills from the start.

It's definitely something the Phillies get a little over-excited about. Then again, Dom Brown was an all tools, no skills player at one point and now he's widely regarded as the top prospect left in the minors (which I think is wrong, but that's another debate). There definitely is a real chance these types of players figure things out and when they do you end up with a franchise player.

But the difference is that Brown's pitch recognition/patience has always been an advanced tool. All that happened is that his body finally filled out to take advantage of it.

When was Dom Brown all tools no talent? Brown had the necessary baseball skills from the start.

It's not nearly as exaggerated as Hewitt, but he started out pretty rough before quickly becoming adequate. It was only last year that he started to put everything together, though he flashed enough baseball skills to excite scouts prior to that.

Nyman,
If there's a grub about his game, it's his plate discipline. It's solid but not spectacular and he's gotten to the point where his bat is so much better than the pitching he's facing that he's not bothering to work walks.

Now writing for FanGraphs, RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, and The Fake Baseball

Eric Pettis (22), has dominated short season hitters and is probably in line for a promotion to low A (if not a quick call to A+). You can take a look at his stats here, but I want to highlight his 30K to 2BB ratio in 33IP. 20 hits over that period is also nice.

I couldn't tell you more about him if I wanted to, but he's got a nice set of stats in the early going. He's very advanced for SS ball so we'll know more about him if/when he makes his way to AA next year.

Now writing for FanGraphs, RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, and The Fake Baseball

Nyman,
If there's a grub about his game, it's his plate discipline. It's solid but not spectacular and he's gotten to the point where his bat is so much better than the pitching he's facing that he's not bothering to work walks.

For how young he was his plate discipline looks pretty good to me: 12 BB's in 34 games in 2006, 29 BB's in 77 games in 2007, 64 BB's in 112 games in 2008. It's not spectacular, but his rate really is relatively close to Heyward's in the minors

It's definitely something the Phillies get a little over-excited about. Then again, Dom Brown was an all tools, no skills player at one point and now he's widely regarded as the top prospect left in the minors (which I think is wrong, but that's another debate). There definitely is a real chance these types of players figure things out and when they do you end up with a franchise player.

I find a need for buzz killing when our prospects get over-hyped ever since we ran Gavin Floyd out of town. We could have had a cheap back of the rotation pitcher all these years instead of say big baby blanton, but instead we used him as a throw in for Freddie Garcia. A little patience and maybe Floyd catches on no problem here.

Now writing for FanGraphs, RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, and The Fake Baseball

I find a need for buzz killing when our prospects get over-hyped ever since we ran Gavin Floyd out of town. We could have had a cheap back of the rotation pitcher all these years instead of say big baby blanton, but instead we used him as a throw in for Freddie Garcia. A little patience and maybe Floyd catches on no problem here.

Yeah but that was because a lot of people were like "OMG GARCIA 17 WINS OMG ACE" and that **** sucked.